Why allowing refiners to fill storage caverns is a win-win plan

After many missed opportunities, India seems to have finally woken up to the importance of crude oil storage. Taking advantage of low global oil prices and to ensure that domestic public sector refiners do not default on their purchase agreements, the Ministry for Petroleum & Natural Gas has allowed them to use the strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs) for storing their purchases as well as to buy for the government.

“We have started filling our strategic reserves at the government’s cost. Three vessels have already come and the target is to get 10-11 more such large crude vessels in the next 40 days or so,” a senior government official told BusinessLine.